Who Sees for the Blind
by TheUltimateCombo
Summary: Marina Datillo is blind, something that can sometimes make her a target. When her blindness is exploited, she becomes a recluse, refusing to tell anyone what's happened. Can Fern and Buster find out what's wrong? Or will their snooping get them involved in a world of trouble? No pairings straight away, but may become Fern x Buster later on.


**A/N: I would like to give a shout out to Seymour Butz, for his/her Prunella the Bodyguard story, which inspired me to make this.**

It was a sunny Wednesday afternoon at Mighty Mountain Elementary. Young Marino Datillo, blind prodigy, was finishing soccer practice, scoring several goals for the afternoon. She walked over to the bench, grabbing a bottle of water to drink.

"Great practice, Marina!" A voice said. Marina looked towards the sound. From the sound, it was one of her friends at MM, Wendy.

"Thanks Wendy!" Marina smiled.

"If we keep it up, Lakewood is going down next game!" Wendy cheered. Marina raised her hand for a high five, which Wendy supplied.

"Well, see ya!" Wendy said, before walking off. Marina began the long walk home, using her hearing to get her across streets. She was blissfully unaware of a car following her home.

For weeks, a red mustang had been parked at Mighty Mountain, the driver of which had been watching the girls at soccer practice. Just watching. Marina had stood out among the rest of the girls, however. Her blank stare betrayed the fact that she couldn't see. Her moves were predictable, practiced. She wasn't prepared for sudden moves by her opponent, and took a long time to adjust. All this was deduced, just by watching her. And once he had concluded that she was blind, he proceeded to take note of her schedule.

On Monday, she would be at the library with a friend who had puffy red hair, since her mom worked Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. On Tuesday she would walk straight home, her mom would be home too. On Wednesday she would walk home too, usually having the same friend from Monday spend time 'til her mother came home. On Thursday her mom would be home, and on Friday, she would be at the library, same as Monday.

Marina continued walking towards her house, walking up the front stairs, opening the door, entering her house, then closing and locking the door. Marina sat down on her couch, opening a mystery novel to read. She ran her hand over the bumps on the pages, smiling as she read another exciting case solved by Sherlock Holmes.

Outside, the red mustang parked in front of Marina's house. A tall, forty year old male with blonde hair stepped out. He wore shades, a blue Hawaiian shirt, and short khaki pants. He nonchalantly made his way up the front steps, knocking on the door. When Marina heard the knock, she paused. She was told to never open the door for strangers, but in any case, she decided to find out who was at the door.

"Who is it?" She asked kindly. The man was a quick thinker, answering,

"Package delivery."

Marina frowned, if her mom was expecting a package, Marina would know about it.

"We're not expecting a package."

"It's not from a company." The man cursed his stupidity, he should've thought his plan through.

Marina answered, "Okay." She cautiously opened the door holding out her hand for the package. As soon as the door was open wide enough, the man barged in, covering Marina's mouth, closing the door behind him, and forcing her to the couch.

* * *

Fern sat at the library, reading alongside George. Fern sighed, she was out of ideas for her current novel, where Watteau faced the Crummy Crook, a man who stole bread from bakeries. Even Fern found the idea silly, hence why she was here, looking for inspiration in the Mystery section.

The young detective yawned. She looked towards her partner in fighting crime.

"I'm bored George, let's hit the Sugar Bowl." She said.

"You go ahead Fern, I'll stay here." George replied, once again becoming immersed in his reading.

"Suit yourself." Fern grabbed her backpack and left. She headed towards the Sugar Bowl, walking inside to find Prunella and Marina at a booth, the former desperately trying to get a rise out of the latter, who sat staring into blank space.

"What's wrong, Marina?" Prunella asked. "Won't you at least tell me?"

"No." Marina said sharply. A milkshake sat in front of her, the straw of which she twirled around constantly.

"Won't you at least drink your milkshake?"

Marina didn't respond, she just stared.

"Hey guys!" Fern greeted.

"Hey Fern." Prunella said in a bored tone.

"Hello." Marina spoke.

Fern looked between the two, perplexed.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know. Marina won't tell me." Prunella responded.

"I won't tell _anyone_." The blind girl snapped.

Prunella gave Fern a pleading look. _Help me._

Fern spoke up, "You need to talk to someone."

All Fern got in response was a blink.

Finally, Marina said, "I'd like to go home now, Prunella. Would you mind accompanying me?"

Defeated, Prunella sighed, and followed Marina out of the store.

Fern looked after them. "Hmm."

* * *

"Let me get this right: You want _me_ to help you?" Buster asked, mouth agape.

"Yes." Fern replied. "You're a Private I, you specialize in this stuff."

"Look, I'm always willing to help a fellow detective, but I don't even know this girl!"

Fern frowned. "Yes you do. She's Prunella's friend. Y'know, the blind girl?"

Buster blinked. "Oh. But still, I failed to deduce why you were sad, and you're my friend!"

"This is different. With me, I was just depressed. It didn't have a reason, but I was still depressed. Marina's situation is different. She's hiding something."

"What?" Buster asked.

"_That's_ what we're going to find out."

**A/N: Read and Review. Once again, a shout out to Seymour Butz for inspiring me.**


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